"Divine Ability Realm!"
"Mana!"
"He did it!"
"He finally did it…"
"So this is what the Divine Ability Realm feels like?" Nebula Baby scrunched his chubby face in disbelief. "Mother said it would take me years to reach that stage—to grow in mind and spirit, to purge fear, to sharpen my will until no terror or pain could shake me. Only then could I touch the threshold. Otherwise, no matter how strong my body or how many elixirs I swallowed, it would be useless."
"The art he cultivated… that's the Yama Golden Body! The most excruciating method of the Netherworld Sect! He endured the agony of being boiled alive in oil—how unbreakable must his mind be?" the Demoness whispered, her expression complex.
"He really broke through… unbelievable! With this, he'll surely win the Mountain and River Ranking competition. The champion is rewarded with a divine artifact, and after the formal examination, he'll be promoted to a True Disciple. That means authority, status, and his own mountain stronghold! When that happens, Ye Tiannan and his clique are finished!" Princess Hongyi's lips curled with satisfaction, already savoring the looks of shock awaiting those back at Yuhua Sect.
Breaking into the Divine Ability Realm was harder than ascending the heavens themselves.
Though Fang Han borrowed the power of treasures, the true key lay in his courage and unyielding will—the kind that dared to challenge Hua Tiandu himself, that endured being boiled alive without breaking. His spirit had been tempered to absolute purity.
Yet even attaining this realm didn't automatically make one a True Disciple. Yuhua Sect's core ranks were closely examined and carefully chosen. Still, Fang Han's achievement guaranteed dominance at the upcoming tournament.
With his connection to Fang Qingxue, his background posed no problem. Unless the Netherworld Diagram was exposed—though even then, it could be dismissed as a fortuitous encounter.
"My judgment wasn't wrong," Hongyi mused. "That Liu Kang, short-sighted fool—abandoning Fang Han for a mere flying sword. He'll regret it for life."
"Come," Fang Han's voice thundered. With a flick of his fingers, his robe soared into the air, guided by his newfound mana, and wrapped around him automatically.
He had been completely naked during his ordeal in the cauldron.
Boom!
The wild currents around him subsided, drawing back into his body like dragons retreating into the deep. His feet touched the ground softly as he waved his hand. Four unconscious inner disciples appeared out of thin air—they had been sealed within the Netherworld Diagram all this time.
Now that Fang Han had stepped into the Divine Ability Realm, it was time to make these four submit.
They had been imprisoned and suppressed in the diagram since capture—completely unaware of its nature. Even now, he wouldn't let them learn its secret. Only the Demoness knew, but with the Emotion-Sealing Talisman on her soul, even if she tried to speak, she'd be reduced to an idiot at Yan's mere thought.
Hongyi knew Fang Han possessed a legendary Dao artifact but not that it was the Netherworld Sect's sacred relic. Crane Fairy didn't care either way. Nebula Baby had seen countless treasures and took Fang Han's possessions as perfectly natural.
Everything was under Fang Han's control—his secrets would not leak. The higher his cultivation rose, the more cautious he became.
He flicked his finger. Pop, pop, pop, pop!
Four crisp bursts of sound echoed as waves of mana struck the four disciples. Their bodies trembled and slowly awoke—his first test of manipulating divine power.
They blinked, dazed.
"Where are we?"
"Fang Han! How dare you knock us out and imprison us! You've violated sect law! I'll report this to the Elders!"
"This place… it's underground! You've brought us to a demon's lair! You're colluding with the Devil Path!"
"Hah! You wouldn't dare kill us. The Mountain and River Tournament is just months away—they'll count every participant. If we're missing, Senior Brother Ye will report it. Not even Fang Qingxue can save you then!"
"Be smart and let us go. Otherwise, when the truth comes out, you'll be finished!"
The four weren't fools. Even faced with danger, they kept their composure—each one had the cunning required of an inner disciple.
"So it was Ye Tiannan who sent you," Fang Han said coldly. "That fool truly doesn't value his life. During the tournament, I'll make him regret ever being born."
He raised his voice. "You accuse me of colluding with the Devil Path? Look carefully—this is the son of the Starry Gate's Sect Master. He was trapped by the Great Asura Demoness, and I saved him. Tell me, does that sound like a demon's ally?"
He gestured toward Nebula Baby.
The title Starry Gate Sect Master's son alone was enough to crush their arrogance.
"You think you can oppose Senior Brother Ye?" one of them sneered. "You can't even imagine his power—"
Before he finished, Fang Han's eyes flashed coldly. He raised his hand, and boom!—a torrent of invisible mana condensed into a giant palm that struck the ground. The entire floor quaked as a half-foot-deep handprint appeared, carved into solid stone.
Silence fell.
The four disciples stared, faces pale, no longer daring to speak.